Monday’s (6/21/2010) Text: Luke 9.51-62
51 When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; 53 but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. 54 When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” 55 But he turned and rebuked them. 56 Then they went on to another village.
57 As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Ooo… what a juicy piece of Scripture. It is just dripping with theological implications. It is oozing with theological overtones that challenge us in so many ways. It is so packed full of theological demurs that it should cause us to pause and reconsider our own position. The overarching theme, though, is unmistakable what does it means to follow Jesus? Following Jesus is not an easy task. We don’t set the terms. That’s one thing that really stands out in these verses. We are called to follow. We are not given the option for setting our terms or for establishing the conditions of our following. One finds Jesus destination offensive, another wanted 5-star accommodations, another had to settle some unfinished business, still another was unwilling to move forward without longing for the way things were. All illustrate the impossibility of following Jesus conditionally. They all also illustrate that Jesus call to fallow is a call to a destination.
That destination is ahead of us. It lies in the future, and it can never be arrived at by going back, by returning to some past or former place. To follow we must go forward. Going forward, though, is itself rife with danger and uncertainty. The future is unknown. It is unsettled. It is open to possibility. The potential to shape and transform the future is why Jesus leads us there. We have the opportunity to make our tomorrows into truly something amazing. Jesus leads us into the future, because we have the opportunity to shape that future, to influence our tomorrows with the kingdom of God in such a way that that kingdom becomes actualized—even if in only some small way. By refusing to move forward, by attaching ourselves too rigidly to the past, we can unwittingly hinder the coming of God’s kingdom. Something none of us, I’m sure, want to do.
Throughout the rest of this week’s Scripture readings, keep an eye out for this theme of following unconditionally into the future.
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